Man Leadership Quotes & Sayings

A leader should not be a man who arbitrarily imported his own ideas but the essential focal point for a group of people who trusted one another and worked for a common aim. — Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Never has man reached his destination by persistence in deviation from the straight path. — Mahatma Gandhi

A good man likes a hard boss. I don't mean a nagging boss or a grouchy boss. I mean a boss who insists on things being done right and on time; a boss who is watching things closely enough so that he knows a good job from a poor one. Nothing is more discouraging to a good man than a boss who is not on the job, and who does not know whether things are going well or badly. — William Feather

A leader is the man who has the ability to get other people to do what they don't want to do, and like it. — Harry S. Truman

As we become civilized we are governed less by persons and more by principles ... The best of all leaders is the man who teaches people to lead themselves. — Robert Green Ingersoll

A man who is influenced by the polls or is afraid to make decisions which make him unpopular is not a man to represent the welfare of the country. — Harry S. Truman

(Patrick Henry) He understood that the home was the foundation of a stable society and that the authority a man "exercised within the larger society was rooted in the authority exercised at home." Thus ... the training ground for all sound leadership is the family. — David J. Vaughan

Without faith, it is impossible to succeed. It takes faith to grow, change or move out of your comfort zone. All external interventions become futile without the personal and internalized buy-in from the spirit-man who needs to change towards a given success destination. — Archibald Marwizi

Defeat in itself was part and parcel of the great gambling game of politics. A man who could not accept it and try again was not of the stuff of which leaders are made. — Agnes Sligh Turnbull

You will become a lighthouse of personal growth and power, and by your example and leadership, you will prevent many a worthy man from crashing his life upon the rocks of mediocrity. — Andy Andrews

Hollow Horn Bear knew that to be leader and adviser of his people he must be honest and reliable, and that his word once given in promise must never be taken back. He knew that he must be a man of will-power, standing for the right no matter what happened to him personally; that he must have strength of purpose, allowing no influence to turn him from doing what was best for the tribe. He must be willing to serve his people without thought of pay. He must be utterly unselfish and kind-hearted to the old and poor and stand ready to give to those in need. Above all, he must be unafraid to deal equal justice to all. — Luther Standing Bear

He felt everything - pride in his competence and leadership during the Second World War, pride in his noble intransigence during the Cold War, intellectual pleasure in what he called the "technically sweet" conception of the H-bomb, self-disgust that he could feel such pleasure in so monstrous a creation - but could decide on nothing. Brilliance of this scattershot type effectively disqualifies a man from political decision-making. Oppenheimer was simply not the sort of man a nation can entrust with its fate. — Algis Valiunas

We cannot escape our destiny, nor should we try to do so. The leadership of the free world was thrust upon us two centuries ago in that little hall of Philadelphia. In the days following World War II, when the economic strength and power of America was all that stood between the world and the return to the dark ages, Pope Pius XII said, 'The American people have a great genius for splendid and unselfish actions. Into the hands of America God has placed the destinies of an afflicted mankind.' We are indeed, and we are today, the last best hope of man on earth. — Ronald Reagan

To say that there is a case for heroes is not to say that there is a case for hero worship. The surrender of decision, the unquestioning submission to leadership, the prostration of the average man before the Great Man
these are the diseases of heroism, and they are fatal to human dignity. History amply shows that it is possible to have heroes without turning them into gods. And history shows, too, that when a society, in flight from hero worship, decides to do without great men at all, it gets into troubles of its own. — Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr.

It was due to his tact, to his judgment, to his sympathetic manipulation of human beings that the atmosphere had always been such a happy one ... If there was a change, therefore, the change must be due to the man at the top. — Agatha Christie

I don't want to be rich and famous but I want to die knowing I stood infront of a broken man and gave him one reason to smile again. — Nikki Rowe

To my mind the election was stolen by George Bush and we have been suffering ever since under this man's leadership. — Jessica Lange

For statesmanship is a science and an art; one must have lived for it and been long prepared. Only a philosopher-king is fit to guide a nation. "Until philosophers are kings, or the kings and princes of this world have the spirit and power of philosophy, and wisdom and political leadership meet in the same man, ... cities will never cease from ill, nor the human race" (473). This is the key-stone of the arch of Plato's thought. — Will Durant

The mark of a great man is one who knows when to set aside the important things in order to accomplish the vital ones. — Brandon Sanderson

In Hitler the rare union has taken place between the most acute logical thinker and truly profound philosopher, and the iron man of action ... I follow no leadership but that of Adolf Hitler and of God. — Hermann Goring

You're so bossy." "Why is a woman always described as bossy, when if a man did the same thing he'd be thought of as decisive, commanding and displaying qualities of leadership? — Jeffrey Archer

In times of crisis, you get a public reaction that is incoherence on stilts. On the one hand, most people know that the government is not in the oil business. They don't want it in the oil business. They know there is nothing a man in Washington can do to plug a hole a mile down in the gulf.
On the other hand, they demand that the president 'take control.' They demand that he hold press conferences, show leadership, announce that the buck stops here and do something. They want him to emote and perform the proper theatrical gestures so they can see their emotions enacted on the public stage.
They want to hold him responsible for things they know he doesn't control. Their reaction is a mixture of disgust, anger, longing and need. It may not make sense. But it doesn't make sense that the country wants spending cuts and doesn't want cuts, wants change and doesn't want change. — David Brooks

The irony was that despite having modernized Canada's divorce laws in the 1960s, his personal faith held that "what God has joined, let no man tear asunder." He even apologized to me once, years later, for not ever being able to provide his teenage sons with a maternal presence in our lives in Montreal: he simply felt that he could never remarry. I of course reassured him that it was of no matter to us, but the lesson he taught me about the distinction between private faith and public responsibility was one that would later guide my own thinking about leadership.) — Justin Trudeau

People more than ever since I can remember are concerned about being out of step and out of line with their political party and won't cross over. There is nobody, man or woman, who wants to be left out, and people are fearful of that. People are fearful of their leadership as well. — Gary Ackerman

Men's Leadership Success Formula: Get up, Show up, Man up, Mentor up, and Move up! — Orrin Woodward

Whoever is under a man's power is under his protection, too. — David J. Schwartz

One man and a dozen fools would govern better than one man alone. — Ben Chifley

A woman's long hair symbolizes that she submits to God's plan and to the family leadership of her husband. It is her glory. It is a sign to the angels of her commitment to God and her power with God. It is a covering so that she can pray and prophesy publicly without being ashamed. Similarly, a man's short hair symbolizes that he submits to God's plan and accepts the family leadership position. For both married and unmarried, this symbol indicates obedience to God's will. — David K. Bernard

There are also those who inadvertently grant power to another man's words by continuously trying to spite him. If a man gets to the point where he can simply say, 'The sky is blue,' and people indignantly rush up trying to refute him saying, 'No, the sky is light blue,' then, whether they realize it or not, he has become an authority figure even to such adversaries. — Criss Jami

If Captain Jean-Luc Picard asked you to serve him aboard the starship Enterprise, you'd likely be happy to. You would recognise him as a great leader and a good man, and so you wouldn't have any problem following his orders. This is basically the relationship God wants with us - not slaves, not pets, not possessions, we would be co-workers and friends. — Lewis N. Roe

A good manager is best when people barely know that he exists. Not so good when people obey and acclaim him. Worse when they despise him. — Laozi

[Wendy] Davis [pursued] higher education, as her campaign website says, with 'the help of academic scholarships, student loans, and state and federal grants.' Now that she is in a high-profile and hotly partisan race, it has come out that she also benefited from the moral and financial support of her second - now ex - husband. In the process, though, behavior we would expect and hardly notice in a man is being portrayed as freakish and problematic in a woman. — Liza Mundy

A sign of power in a man is not only when people follow what he suggests, but also when people make a conscious effort to do the exact opposite of what he suggests. — Criss Jami

What is man born for but to be a Reformer, a Remaker of what man has made? A renouncer of lies; a restorer of truth and good? Imitating that great Nature which embossoms us all, and which sleeps no moment on an old past, but every hour repairs herself, yielding us every morning a new day, with every breath a new life? — Ralph Waldo Emerson

Today this courtyard was filled with great warriors. What is more? But it was not filled with great men who have the heart to rule a kingdom. Any man can kill, Finnikin. It is a stroke, an action with one's hand. But not every man knows how to lead. — Melina Marchetta

Succeeding in life and business is like falling in love with your wife (for those of you that are married). You can't leave your wife at the mercy of another man and feel safe. — Nkem Paul

A woman who occupies the same realm of thought with man, who can explore with him the depths of science, comprehend the steps of progress through the long past and prophesy those of the momentous future, must ever be surprised and aggravated with his assumptions of leadership and superiority, a superiority she never concedes, an authority she utterly repudiates. — Elizabeth Cady Stanton

Once a man and woman have married, the only thing they should receive from their parents is advice and counsel, and then only when they ask for it. Parents should not offer opinions or advice without being asked. To do so undermines the development of the leadership and self-determination of the couple. When they married, the leadership and decision-making responsibilities transferred from their former homes to the new home they are building together. All leadership now devolves on them. They are responsible for making their own decisions. Part of cultivating companionship is learning how to exercise these responsibilities effectively together. — Myles Munroe

Nobody ever launched an attack without having misgivings beforehand, You ought to have misgivings before; but when the moment of action is come, the hour of misgivings is passed. It is often not possible to go backward from a course which has been adopted in war. A man must answer "Aye" or "No" to the great questions which are put, and by that decision he must be bound. — Winston Churchill

The man who can follow a leader most efficiently, is usually the man who develops into leadership most rapidly. An intelligent follower has many advantages, among them the opportunity to acquire knowledge from his leader. The — Napoleon Hill

Shouldn't Democrats insist that Sen. Durbin step down as their whip, the number two man in their leadership? — Bill Kristol

Research has shown the challenge caused by Climate change is mainly man-made due to abdication of leadership and personal responsibility in taking care of the environment. Will you be part of the army replenishing the earth and promoting proper stewardship of its resources? — Archibald Marwizi

A single woman should only marry a man she can follow: Ladies if you are single, be very, very careful who you date and marry. Don't just date a man who you can put up with, marry a man you can trust, you'll follow his leadership, you'll respect him, he's saved, he's godly. The last thing you want is some guy you don't trust, he's not wise, he doesn't do his homework, he's harsh, he's inconsiderate, he's immature, he's a boy, you're more his mother than you are his mate, Real danger ... real danger ... — Mark Driscoll

Every good man resists others in those points in which he resists himself. — Augustine Of Hippo

It was as though most managers in the world were primarily interested either in results or in people. The managers who were interested in results often seemed to be labeled "autocratic," while the managers interested in people were often labeled "democratic." The young man thought each of these managers - the "tough" autocrat and the "nice" democrat - were only partially effective. "It's like being half a manager," he thought. — Kenneth H. Blanchard

You're going to act like a happy man. I know, I know. It's the hardest role in the world. — Pat Conroy

Africans and persons of African descent must assume the primary responsibility and leadership in historical research ... if we are to continue to leave practically all important historical research and writing concerning the black race to the white man, then we must be prepared to accept, uncomplainingly, the white man's point of view. — Chancellor Williams

The world is full of men who want to be right, when actually the secret of a man's strength and his pathway to true honor is his ability to admit fault when he has failed. God wants to fill the church with men who can say they are wrong when THEY ARE WRONG. A man who is willing to humble himself before God and his family and say:"I was wrong." will find that his family has all the confidence in the world in him and will much more readily follow him. If he stubbornly refuses to repent or admit he was wrong, their confidence in him and in his leadership erodes. — Jim Anderson

Of course the servants had chosen not to follow me; I'd failed them already by refusing to be a man they could believe in. — Megan Whalen Turner

Ronald Reagan makes me proud to be an American. His intelligence, capability, and Christian brotherhood are so inspiring and his way of leadership is just superb. I consider myself lucky to have been his leading lady in The Bad Man and a short subject reel and as a nation all together we are beyond fortunate to have the leadership of such fine people as the Reagan's. — Laraine Day

A visitor asked Lincoln what good news he could take home from an audience with the august executive. The president spun a story about a machine that baffled a chess champion by beating him thrice. The stunned champ cried while inspecting the machine, "There's a man in there!"Lincoln's good news, he confided from the heights of leadership, was that there was in fact a man in there. — Shelby Foote

Seminary is for men who are seriously considering the ministry; it is a place where a man may test his gifts and calling in the service of the Word...Uncertainty about a call to the ministry may indicate with certainty a call to theological training. Even when God does not call a man to pastoral work, he often leads through seminary study to other ministries of teaching and to informed leadership in the work of the church. — Edmund P. Clowney

The Church is Christ's witness to the world of a loving savior and His redemptive plan for man. — John Paul Warren

Hatred is very powerful. It can overpower love. When a man burns in the fire of hatred, he cannot feel any love, and is willing to destroy his enemy even if it kills him. It is amazing to note that a leader who may be driven to act against another in hatred, may be showered with love in the process. People who share his hatred may love him for rising up to the challenge. — Awdhesh Singh

If you have ideas, you have the main asset you need, and there isn't any limit to what you can do with your business and your life. Ideas are any man's greatest asset. — Harvey S. Firestone

He [Osama bin Laden] is clearly an odd combination of a 12th-century theologian and a 21st-century CEO. He runs an absolutely unique organization in the Islamic world. It's multiethnic, multilinguistic, multinational. He is a combat veteran, three times wounded. He has a huge reputation in the Islamic world for generosity and leadership. He's a man who speaks eloquent, almost poetic Arabic, according to Bernard Lewis. — Michael Scheuer

I'm accustomed to being top man. I been a bull goose catskinner for every gyppo logging operation in the Northwest and bull goose gambler all the way from Korea, was even bull goose pea weeder on that pea farm at Pendleton
so I figure if I'm bound to be a loony, then I'm bound to be a stompdown dadgum good one. — Ken Kesey

What is assertive in a man can appear abrasive in a woman, and female leaders risk appearing too feminine or not feminine enough. — Barbara Kellerman

Nature never rhymes her children, nor makes two men alike. When we see a great man, we fancy a resemblance to some historical person, and predict the sequel of his character and fortune, a result which he is sure to disappoint. None will ever solve the problem of his character according to our prejudice, but only in his high unprecedented way. — Ralph Waldo Emerson

A man who wants to lead the orchestra must turn his back on the crowd. — Max Lucado

A tale is told of a man in Paris during the upheaval in 1948, who saw a friend marching after a crowd toward the barricades. Warning him that these could not be held against the troops, that he had better keep way, he received this reply, " I must follow them. I am their leader." — Abbott Lawrence Lowell

[Pope Francis] is a humble man. He lives the faith out in his own personal life ... He's here to be a shepherd; he isn't here to be a scold. I think that's a good thing for the church and for the world, frankly. — Rick Santorum

The most miserable man in this room tonight is the Christian who is not right with Him. — Johnny Hunt

What Australia was before is the fullest Australia has ever been ... as created and made and valued by indigenous people. The white man came here and took it away, took it away and replaced it ... — Galarrwuy Yunupingu

A man can only stumble for so long before he either falls or stands up straight. — Brandon Sanderson

It is time for us to seek again the leadership of the Holy Spirit. Man's lordship has cost us too much ... — Aiden Wilson Tozer

One man has enthusiasm for 30 minutes, another for 30 days, but it is the man who has it for 30 years who makes a success of his life. — Edward Burgess Butler

Don't wait to be a great man; be a great boy! — Ralph Jordan

A chief is a man who assumes responsibility. He says 'I was beaten', he does not say 'My men were beaten. — Antoine De Saint-Exupery

If you want to know the real character of man, intentionally and timely give him the test of 3d's; delay, denial and disappointment — Ernest Agyemang Yeboah

Man is born to dream, to be enlightened, to connect and to be fulfilled. Managers are too. — Stan Slap

Paine knew that class tensions existed. He understood that revolutions stirred up resentments. In Common Sense, he adopted an ominous tone at a key point in his argument, warning readers that the time was ripe to declare independence and form a stable government. Or else. In the current state of things, "the mind of the multitude is left at random," he wrote, and "the property of no man is secure." Therefore, if the leadership class did not seize hold of the narrative, the broad appeal to political independence would be supplanted by an incendiary call for social leveling. — Nancy Isenberg

The greater a man is in power above others, the more he ought to excel them in virtue. None ought to govern who is not better than the governed. — Publilius Syrus

I cannot trust a man to control others who cannot control himself. — Robert E.Lee

The mob that hails the man on horseback, the Caesars and conquering heroes, does not retain its freedoms for long. — Sidney Hook

The most enthusiastic man in a cause is rarely chosen as the leader. — Arthur Helps

The man who commands efficiently must have obeyed others in the past, and the man who obeys dutifully is worthy of someday being a commander. — Marcus Tullius Cicero

I offered leadership over the family, Savage, not over me.I go my own way."
"As do I.I meant no disrespect to you; indeed,Darius, I wish to learn of your history. I believe you are the brother of Gregori,our healer. He is a great man, not unlike yourself." Julian grinned suddenly. "Gregori and I do not always get along either."
Darius blinked, the only evidence of movement. "I cannot imagine why," he muttered ruefully.
"I grow on you," Julian assured.
"I do not think you should count too greatly on it," Darius replied.
"The sun is rising, my friend.Let us go."
"It will not be so easy living within my rule," Darius cautioned softly.
Julian's eyebrows shot up. "Really? As I answer only to my Prince, I think I shall find it an interesting experience. — Christine Feehan

To be able to lead others, a man must be willing to go forward alone. — Harry S. Truman

The Dalai Lama. He is a very wise man of great inner peace who believes that happiness is the purpose of our lives. Through his teachings and leadership, he continues to make this world a better place in which to live. — Sidney Sheldon

Alas! in the clothes of the greatest potentate, what is there but a man? — Robert Louis Stevenson

A President must call on many persons
some to man the ramparts and to watch the far away, distant posts; others to lead us in science, medicine, education and social progress here at home. — Lyndon B. Johnson

The man who has dedicated himself to the success of the protect, the master builder, no longer has any freedom: his conduct is now determined altogether by the constraining force of the end. Logically, therefore, he is bound to require at every moment from his companions whatever will best serve that end, and he demands of them imperiously whatever he thinks is of that nature. This imperiousness, though to immediate view that of the master, springs ultimately from the project itself, for it is the project which is in command. In the eyes of those under him, however, it is the master who hustles them, and they think him inhuman by reason of his disregard of their moods and personalities and his inability to see them other than as servants of the project (like himself). — Bertrand De Jouvenel

Might I give counsel to any man, I would say to him, try to frequent the company of your betters. In books and in life, that is the most wholesome society; learn to admire rightly; the great pleasure of life is that. Note what great men admire. — William Makepeace Thackeray

David was at his best in group settings, soldier enough to join in the raucous jests, king enough to make it matter that he remembered some moments of bravery or sacrifice, and praised each man accordingly. — Geraldine Brooks

So that the one road for which we now need God's leadership most of all is a road God, in His own nature, has never walked. But suppose God became a man ... He could surrender His will, suffer and die, because He was a man ... — C.S. Lewis

In the world at large we seldom vote for a principle or a given state of affairs. We vote for a man who pretends to believe in that principle or promises to achieve that state. We don't want a man, we want a condition of peace and plenty
or, it may be, war and want
but we must vote for a man. — B.F. Skinner

Whatever success I have achieved, whatever positions of leadership I have held have depended less on Ivy League degrees or SAT scores or GPAs, and have instead been due to that sense of connection and empathy - the special obligation I felt, as a black man like you, to help those who need it most, people who didn't have the opportunities that I had - because there but for the grace of God, go I - I might have been in their shoes. I might have been in prison. I might have been unemployed. I might not have been able to support a family. And that motivates me. — Barack Obama

Is it or is it not a matter of importance that a young man starts out in life with an ability to shut his jaw hard and say "I will," or "I will not," and mean it? — John William Heisman

A man enrich his community. A man teach and display leadership qualities for his children. A man by his presence is safety and security for his Queen. The best the thing a man can do for this world, his children and Queen is be a man. — Carlos Wallace

Never does a man portray his character more vividly than when proclaiming the character of another. — Winston Churchill

If you fail to offer yourself for leadership then accept the blind man who is leading you. — Fenley Douglas

There is a man who exists as one of the most popular objects of leadership, legislation, and quasi-literature in the history of all men ... This man, that object of attention, attack, and vast activity, cannot make himself be heard, let alone understood. He has never been listened to ... That man is Black and alive in white America where the media of communication do not allow the delivery of his own voice, his own desires, his own rage. — June Jordan

As long as leadership from above was not lacking, the people fulfilled their duty and obligation overwhelmingly. Whether Protestant pastor or Catholic priest, both together and particularly at the first flare, there really existed in both camps but a single holy German Reich, for whose existence and future each man turned to his own heaven. — Adolf Hitler

Mandela's heroism is the heroism of a man who suffered so badly for what he thought of as freedom. And yet when he had the upper hand he has this incredible self-control and these incredible leadership qualities. — Bono

The great illusion of leadership is to think that man can be led out of the desert by someone who has never been there. — Henri J.M. Nouwen

When man has nothing but his will to assert
even his good-will
it is always bullying. Bolshevism is one sort of bullying, capitalism another: and liberty is a change of chains. — D.H. Lawrence

This night he was a king before he was a man. At this time, this troubled me. Later, I would have cause to wish it were always so. — Geraldine Brooks

Patience is important for a man, vital for a leader — James Clavell

One Man's Hero, Another Man's Villain..
Sometimes in the same Man.. — Abha Maryada Banerjee